Thursday, September 11, 2014

Treat me with contempt, please.

Why is Raila Odinga special? For that matter, why are Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto, Kalonzo Musyoka or Johnston Muthama special? Of our public figures, and there are many, the special ones, whether they have achieved much or not, are known without their demanding it. In Kenya, you are special when the State says you are special and the State doesn't say it as loud as it does by whom it allows into or keeps out of the VIP Lounges at our border points. (The Artur Brothers, whom we miss dearly, were special too. Think on it.)

Every time some has-been CORD politician is denied access to a VIP Lounge, the whole country is held in thrall to the umbrage the "disrespect" being shown to a "man who has contributed so much to the country" as we are wont to be reminded. Those of us who know who the truly special Kenyans are simply roll our eyes. Many Kenyans, sadly, are not that level-headed and their unhinged minds are taken to the streets, sometimes with terrible consequences. Much bloodshed has been shed over whether or not Agwambo should or should not fly first class on the people's shilling.

In every political society there is that crass opportunist who will push every button to keep his name in the lights. In Kenya, those of recent notoriety have distinguished themselves with their obsessions with penises, foreskins and vaginas. There is a parliamentary caucus that has developed an unhealthy interest in anuses and to what use those anuses are put. These obsessives purport to speak for the people. They may be right; after all the peoples of Kenya have demonstrated an unhealthy obsession with foreskins, penises, vaginas and anuses. But in Kenya it is only the elected and formerly elected classes that obsess piteously over lost privileges.

They will do their very best to whip the emotions of Kenyans who should otherwise be obsessing over penises, foreskins, vaginas and anuses. They will do their best to make their case that a has-been and an also-ran should be treated with deference because of his previous service to the nation. Of course there are men and women for which the nation owes a great deal; that does not mean that our world will come to an end if the privileges we allowed them to enjoy for a few years are suddenly withdrawn. We cannot, after all, afford to keep them in truffles til the day they shuffle off this mortal coil, can we?

Let us be blunt. Raila Odinga has done a lot for the people of Kenya. But equally too, he has been petulant, petty, greedy and grasping. We were willing to tolerate his, and his acolytes', antics when he kept winning elective office. he is now a private citizen. He is not an elected representative. He can swan around as the "leader of CORD" if he wants; most of us don't give two shits about it. There is absolutely no reason why Uhuru Kenyatta's government, or the people of Kenya, should treat him as if he is a Greek god of mythology. There is absolutely no reason why public servants sweating in the VIP Lounges should be on hand to serve Mr Odinga and his bevy of ass-kissers whenever he is passing through any of our border points.

This colonial artifact must be destroyed in order to save the soul of this nation. There is no reason why we should elevate elected leaders and "senior public officers" to the status of Greek gods. They do not deserve it, especially if they take after the crass nature of their electors and appointing authorities. There is something amiss when a people fawn over and flutter around philanderers, pederasts, thieves, conmen, whores and suspected murderers. If the British wish to carry on as they have for millennia, that is their own affair. We have no reason to do so. Demolish the VIP lounges and the privileges associated with them. We are, as the Constitution grandiosely declares, equal. I will not genuflect to you so long as you treat me with the same degree of contempt that I do you.